Circumcision of Prisoners
As we have received a number of reports of mandatory prison
circumcisions, we have added this special page to provide officials considering
circumcision in their institutions with a resource to determine how wide spread
and effective this practice may be.
Having been recently
released after eight years in a US state correctional facility on the East
Coast, I can attest that circumcision is alive and well at that institution.
It was a very common practice amongst the black population, many of which
convert to Islam while in prison. They of course, request the procedure to
complete their conversion and the State gladly complies. There was a
general feeling among the inmates that the Warden had a particularly interest in
circumcision (perhaps men's dicks in general) and his directions were to
circumcise every man possible. If any man went into the infirmary for any
length of time he often came out circumcised. I'm not saying these were done
completely without consent, but certainly you felt pressure to be circumcised.
There was lots of lectures and "education" about hygiene, foreskin problems,
etc. and plenty of talk about going home fully "rehabilitated" and ready to
"perform" with your lady. Much was made in formal presentations and in
conversations with fellow inmates about improved desirability for circumcised
men and how much better the sex would (eventually) be. "When you get home,
let your lady know you truly are a new man... in all ways!" This was a
common statement. The sizable Hispanic population largely tried to avoid
the procedure, but many brown foreskins succumbed to the docs clamp. Most
of the white guys were already circumcised, but I was not. After two
years, I too got circumcised, as a way of getting out of a very undesirable work
assignment. I've not got what you folks would likely consider a tight
circumcision. I'm out now three plus years, and I have to say I'm very
happy to be circumcised. It does look and feel great, and the ladies do
seem to prefer it. Mandatory circumcisions probably wouldn't be a bad
idea.
Here in the U.S. we only infrequently see an uncircumcised man in the any locker
room, and particularly in the prison where I work. Although I have heard
that some uncircumcised men in our institution pretend to be circumcised by
retracting their embarrassing foreskins. Despite the anti-circ propagandists, I
believe the circ rate in this country is probably closer to 90 percent with only
a few, mostly those born outside the country, being uncircumcised. I am
the medical director and physician of record for a large prison population in
the western part of the USA. Thus I have had the chance to see many naked
men in our system. I have not, however, performed a wide-scale study but
can share my anecdotal findings with regard to circumcision.
First, the prison guard population, all of whose penis' I have seen, are
circumcised. I have tried to discuss this subject with some of them as I
feel that a 100% rate is impressive. The general feeling seems to be that
the law enforcement mentality makes them want to conform and be 'uniform' as it
were. Thus any uncircumcised men when entering the profession seem to be
inclined to get themselves circumcised.
With regard to the prisoners, I would be most interested to study this subject
to determine if there is any correlation between being left uncircumcised in the
USA and the rate of incarceration. Based on my examination of a wide
number of prisoners, I would estimate that our circumcision rates are between
50-60%. This is decidedly low when compared to the general population.
Of course, one would have to account for income levels of parents etc., as it
may be that lower income are under educated, less likely to circumcise and also
more likely to commit a crime. Nonetheless, our foreskin rates are too
high and I have done my best to offer circumcision to all of our inmates when
the opportunity arises. I have gone so far as to discuss this with our
Warden and he concurs with regard to the benefits of circumcision. I think
he would approve of a wide-scale study of the population, and further a
concerted effort to circumcise every uncut inmate. Lord knows that with
the anal intercourse that goes on in this institution, low tight circumcisions
would be a health benefit, and also be appreciated by wives and girlfriends upon
return home.
With the medical evidence so clearly showing the health risks of the foreskin,
not only to the male, but also (according to the latest studies on HIV) to
unsuspecting women, it seems to me that male circumcision should be
mandatory as a public health measure, if not for all children, then at least in
our military and prison populations. Again, in the U.S. (perhaps elsewhere,
too), we require a wide array of medical certifications (e.g., immunizations,
etc.) before children can begin school. Why not add male circumcision to that
list of special care all children receive? And no better place to start than
here in the U.S. where only a few would be be affected by this mandatory public
safety measure.
My Grandpa's Circumcision
By Frank Corey
Years ago, when I used to go camping with my father and grandfather, I'd
noticed the difference in our penises when we stripped down to go swimming. My
penis, circumcised at birth, had a smooth, streamlined look compared with my
father's, with its thick wrinkled foreskin covering the bulge of the head. I'd
see my father pull the skin back to wash underneath. My mother had told me while
bathing me that my foreskin had been removed to make cleaning easier, and that
my trimmed model did not have the odor my father's did. However, I'd seen that
my grandpa's big purple helmet was naked like mine, but with a thick, jagged
brown scar that contrasted with my thin circular scar ring. As our family had
always been open about sexual topics, he'd satisfied my childish curiosity by
telling me that he'd been circumcised in prison when he was 20.
Sam was sentenced to two years for grand theft auto, his only encounter with
the law. A week after arriving in state prison, he'd been alone in the shower
room, stripping his foreskin back to wash, when his penis had swelled. He hadn't
had a discharge for three weeks, when he'd had a wet dream in county jail, and
he badly needed relief. He pumped his foreskin back and forth over the swollen
head, and as the tickle in his head changed to a hot tingle, he closed his eyes.
As orgasm neared, he withdrew into himself, and his awareness of the world
outside faded as his attention focused on the hot sensations in his penis.
He didn't see the guard walking in, and as his body convulsed, spewing his
white cream into the shower stall, he was totally unaware of the guard's eyes on
him. The guard was compassionate, and did not interrupt him as his body released
its juices, but when Sam opened his eyes and saw the guard, he heard:
"Sorry, but that's against the rules. Get dressed. We're going to the
captain's office."
Sexual activity of all sorts was prohibited in prison, and the captain looked
at him after the guard had explained the transgression.
"He still got his skin?" the captain asked. The guard answered affirmatively,
and the captain said: "That's the cause of his self-abuse, then. Take him to the
doc for circumcision."
"Circumcision." Sam had heard the word, whispered in reference to some of his
classmates in school. When Sam had been born, boys were not circumcised at
birth, but some had been during childhood. One boy was taken to the hospital for
a tonsillectomy, and when he awoke both his throat and penis were sore. The
doctor had advised his parents that, as he was going to be under anesthesia, he
should be circumcised to match his baby brother. Another classmate told how he'd
been taken struggling to the hospital and forcibly held down as the mask was
clamped on his face, to wake up with his penis bandaged and sore for three
weeks.
In the prison infirmary, panic gripped Sam as they led him to the gurney
where the doctor would perform the surgery. Guards held him down while the nurse
put the cool mask over his face. Expecting the sharp odor of the ether he'd been
given when he'd had his tonsils out, he was surprised that there was no odor. He
later found out that they'd used nitrous oxide, and as he breathed in the gas a
pleasant feeling of warmth and lassitude came over him, and he soon sank into
unconsciousness.
The gas sent him into deep chemical sleep, annihilating all conscious thought
and more importantly, all pain, because soon the doctor was amputating his
foreskin. The doctor inept, having graduated at the bottom of his class. He'd
been unable to pass the licensing exam, and was practicing medicine at the
prison because of a special waiver issued by the state. The prison could not
attract a good doctor, and was forced to use sub-standard help. An inmate
orderly who witnessed the procedure later told Sam about it:
In the 1920s, doctors did not have the circular clamps that removed the
foreskin cleanly and left a neat scar, and they operated freehand. The doctor
stretched Grandpa's foreskin out and placed a pliers-like clamp on it at the
same angle as rim of the head, then cut off the skin with a scalpel. When he
removed the clamp, the remaining skin slid back behind the rim of the head, but
the inner layer still covered it. The doctor used scissors to cut away the inner
layer, then stitched the edges together with four sutures and applied a bandage.
Sam woke up to find his penis wrapped in gauze, with only the front of the
head exposed so that he could pee. He saw that between the four stitches, the
edges of the wound gaped, and red raw tissue was underneath.
Back in his cell, he lay down and went to sleep, physically and emotionally
exhausted by his ordeal. He awoke with a painful erection that threatened to
tear the stitches, and he screamed in agony. His cellmate, Marty, told him he'd
been circumcised the year before, and helped him cope with it. Marty grasped
Sam's penis at the base and pulled up on the shaft skin to relieve the painful
pulling on the stitches. He said that the quickest way to suppress the erection
was to have an orgasm, and he poured oil on Sam's exposed head and massaged it
with his fingertips. The touch of Marty's fingers on Sam's newly circumcised
head, tender from the pain, quickly brought about release, and his erection
subsided. His penis was oozing blood at the cut, and the pain kept Sam from
sleeping the rest of the night.
Sam had several more erections before his penis healed, and each time he used
the method Marty had taught him, relieving the tension while rubbing the head
until he ejaculated. As the edges of the cut did not heal together, the result
was a thick, jagged brown scar about half an inch wide on the shaft behind the
head.
Marty had advised him to relieve himself in bed, at night, so as not to be
caught again, which would have gotten him 30 days in solitary. He and Sam often
found relief by masturbating each other after lights out.
Sam's experience was so traumatic that when he was released and got married,
he absolutely refused to let the doctor circumcise my father, which is why he
remained intact all his life. My mother, however, was adamant about having me
circumcised, and signed the release without telling my father.
I did not mind having been circumcised, as the doctor had used the special
clamp that left a neat scar ring, and I liked the streamlined appearance of my
penis, with the big purple helmet in its naked glory at the end. Although they
didn't use anesthesia on babies when I was done, I am glad I did not remember
the pain. When my son was born, we had him circumcised using both anesthesia and
clamp.
It has been pointed out that prisoners of war were circumcised on their
arrival in Egypt as a protective act to enhance their ability to work and avoid
the debilitating illnesses of hematuria, dysuria, and further genitourinary
complications that often meant death and loss of a slave in Ancient Egypt.
Ref: Allen JF. Bilharzia Haematobia and Circumcision. The Lancet. May
8, l909; 1317-1320.
I remember reading "The Naked Island" by Russell Braddon, an Australian who
was held in a Japanese POW camp during WWII. I clearly recall one passage in
which he states that the camp Dr (also a prisoner) circumcised all the men who
were not already circumcised!
Neville (CA40UK)
I came across a memoir of life in a German prisoner of war camp during the
second world war, written by an American. He writes: "The big thing the
English doctor did was to circumcise the airmen. "You can't use it, so it's a
good time for a trim," he'd say." The memoir starts at
http://www.iwitnesstohistory.org/ResidentPages/Moore/newmoorepage12.htm
and the quoted part about circumcision is on page 14.
Odd to think that an Englishman was talking Americans into circumcision in
those days.
Daniel
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